([prayer of] "approach"). Term used for the piyyutim (liturgical poems) added in the repetition of the Amidah prayer in the Morning Service of special Sabbaths and festivals in the Ashkenazi liturgy. Each kerovah begins with the cantor's request for "permission," as it were, from God for His guidance. The custom has fallen into disuse in most Ashkenazi congregations, except for the High Holidays, where the kerovah is still said almost universally.